Hawkwindforum

I've just experienced a couple of incidents when sending vinyl to Italy. Fairly recently I seem to remember reading about other Hawk fans with similar experiences. I've been looking for the thread for a while but can't seem to find it. I was wondering if you are one of those people, would you be kind enough to let me know what happened to you. Cheers dudes

crazy horse wrote:I've just experienced a couple of incidents when sending vinyl to Italy. Fairly recently I seem to remember reading about other Hawk fans with similar experiences. I've been looking for the thread for a while but can't seem to find it. I was wondering if you are one of those people, would you be kind enough to let me know what happened to you. Cheers dudes

HEY!!
While I was mindlessly whiling away the wee hours this morning, I begun to contemplate what I might say to you in a PM.....a very positive intended one, of course.
I think I mentioned Italy in a thread. Weather or not I was involved I hope it is okay to repeat or share what I have seen:
ITALY BAD
Over and over I am seeing sellers saying "sorry won't ship to Italy anymore, too many problems"
assuming lost parcels

Never sold a record to Italy, but have received many from Italy without issue.

CHEERS GUYS ,its just that sometimes i get really pissed off with rip off merchants ,and there not paticulary expensive albums they are trying to rip off ,its a depressing reality that we have to live with,i just feel sorry for genuine buyers in italy

Only sent one package to Italy, it wasn't an album, it was books. Didn't get there. Allegedly.

So why not use the "Recorded" delivery? In Greece it is called "registered airmail". No way to be lost. If it is lost there is a refund. Next alternative (but costs more) is to add insurance. NEVER send/receive by simple airmail.

opaloka wrote:So why not use the "Recorded" delivery? In Greece it is called "registered airmail". No way to be lost. If it is lost there is a refund. Next alternative (but costs more) is to add insurance. NEVER send/receive by simple airmail.

it is called registered here in the USA as well, and it is kept under lock and key every step of the way.
seems you would be correct, maybe the sellers have not thought to offer this, or rather, insist in this case.....
maybe Italy cannot be trusted with that either??
to be clear: we speak of items GOING to italy, not coming from...

opaloka wrote:So why not use the "Recorded" delivery? In Greece it is called "registered airmail". No way to be lost. If it is lost there is a refund. Next alternative (but costs more) is to add insurance. NEVER send/receive by simple airmail.

........................................Im afraid registered mail isnt any guarantee either,earlier this year i sent a £40 quid single to germany (registered) it went missing for six weeks ,eventually it was returned to me (and it had been opened) so i sent it again ,this time overland(registered) and it was never seen again.most countries are fine except germany and italy ,my main objective is to get my items to my customers safley and that isnt always possible

thats unfortunate crazy horse - did you not get a tracking number when you registered it so that you kinda more or less know where it is at any particular time? - i remember mailing something to england from ireland when there was heavy snow in both countries (dec 2010-jan 2011) and found out the the item was stored up in some office somewhere and that everything was at a standstill - i was still concerned of course but it finally got there thankfully

as an addendum i remember they would only insure it for 25 percent of what i thought was its real value

As crazyhorse has said, registered, recorded etc, only works to the border of your country. Once it pops over the border, there is no chance of your own post office tracking it, that is unless you use an courier such as UPS or DHL. I use these all the time for high value items such as computers etc. The best part is they even come and pick it up from your house. However its expensive, eg 50 quid a parcel.

I have seen the German post office at work first hand. They often ignore signed for, since they have to climb 8 flights of stairs to get to my flat, no lift. They ignore any fragile stickers and have no worries ramming parcels into my post box.

The worst experience I have had, is a parcel from the states containing an expensive and rare poster. The poster tube arrived but empty. After endless emails, I finally got a reply from the German post office. From time to time, parcels are damaged in transit, bye.

Also any parcels sent to Germany from outside the EU will be openned. Its because they government want import duty. I have often had parcels intercepted and then gotten a letter asking to prove the value of the parcel. In which case I have had to fax a bogus receipt, before they would deliver. This process can take weeks.

interesting that jamun - this is only the second time i registered any post as i just don't usually do that kind of thing - your quads must be well intact if you climb that 'stairway to ..' lol

Brown Dawn wrote:interesting that jamun - this is only the second time i registered any post as i just don't usually do that kind of thing - your quads must be well intact if you climb that 'stairway to ..' lol

I live here BTW, one of the rare buildings in Munich that wasnt bombed by the RAF. It was built in 1890 and is listed, so no chance of modifications for a lift. What is nice, is that downstairs is a violin maker, old school. Any one for a hand made violin?

Someone, not me, seems to have added our street to wikipedia.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bazeillesstr._5-7_Muenchen-2.jpg

[quote="jamun"]As crazyhorse has said, registered, recorded etc, only works to the border of your country. Once it pops over the border, there is no chance of your own post office tracking it,

how retarded of me, I should have remembered that. there it is...
I find tracking the parcels so highly annoying that I won't do it, uless I HAVE to, and I guess occasionally I will just let them know I am watching in hopes to speed it up (now talking about my own items coming as well). Once a parcel crosses a border you are left waiting for a DELVERY CONFIRMATION, which you do get over here, but it's annoying waiting.
There are SO many postal choices now and they stink if you ask me!!! (too expensive, not good enough service)

mike coleman wrote:

jamun wrote:As crazyhorse has said, registered, recorded etc, only works to the border of your country. Once it pops over the border, there is no chance of your own post office tracking it,

how retarded of me, I should have remembered that. there it is...
I find tracking the parcels so highly annoying that I won't do it, uless I HAVE to, and I guess occasionally I will just let them know I am watching in hopes to speed it up (now talking about my own items coming as well). Once a parcel crosses a border you are left waiting for a DELVERY CONFIRMATION, which you do get over here, but it's annoying waiting.
There are SO many postal choices now and they stink if you ask me!!! (too expensive, not good enough service)

Doing all the kolllekting that I do, which is a hell of a lot less than many I am sure, but does sometimes involve expensive items, I have to be prepared to lose one on blue moons. If I were trading as a business. seems like the only choice would be to say "insurance is up to you, won't be responsible for lost parcels"
the postal system is just one more reflection of what human life is NOT.